NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34
“I, I guess I died….”
First round. Winning was obviously impossible.
I was playing in a duo with my senpai, and most of our opponents were also duos.
No matter how well I farmed or how skilled I was, this game is fundamentally in first-person perspective, so no matter how good my angles were, there would inevitably be gaps when surrounded.
To make matters worse, my senpai died early and the opponent was a sniper, so there was no way we could win.
– Still, Mei-chan did an amazing job
– You were surrounded by three teams, but you took out three of them, right?
Despite that, the chatroom had quite a positive opinion about me.
Honestly. Even I thought it was pretty cool play.
“Hehe… but, it’s a little disappointing….”
The regret I felt was genuine.
Even though I was surrounded by three teams, it was only five minutes into the game.
Ultimately, the opponent didn’t have enough damage, and if it had been during my prime, I could have managed to escape alive, even if I couldn’t take them all down.
– I apologize on behalf of our young lady, who is no better than a junior
– Should Mei-chan take over for senpai?
[Huh?! This is absurd! I clearly said I’d feel awkward since it’s been a while?!]
“Y-You’re right. It has been a while for you too, so I can see how you’d feel… awkward.”
[Hmph! Izumi-chan knows that, huh? Just watch. The next round will definitely be different!]
★
“Hmm….”
[….]
The confident voice of my senpai was nowhere to be heard now.
– Hahahahahahaha
– Even with a sniper, this is just too funny
– Mei-chan, be honest, you dislike the young lady, don’t you?
“Of course not!”
I said that as I checked my record.
Bloody Night is played with a total of 40 teams.
And my rankings showed 40th, 38th, 40th, 39th, 39th, 38th, and 35th.
This is serious….
The longest I survived was the last match at 9 minutes.
This match ended with the same pattern as before.
After landing in the area, we scattered to farm items.
If the enemy found my senpai or if my senpai found an enemy, they would fight.
Even if my senpai lost or managed to take one down, other enemies arriving in the meantime would finish my senpai off.
Of course, when I heard my senpai’s battle call, I rushed to that location.
But apart from once, my senpai always lost, and by the time I arrived, I could hear the fight and already other teams had gathered, leading to our defeat in a one-versus-many situation.
Forcing the opponent into an early rush strategy in a game where’s it tough to do so is a frightening talent, isn’t it….
“Hmm.”
To be honest, the sniper wasn’t the problem.
I don’t think there were any snipers in the second or fifth rounds.
…No, maybe I died even before I could meet the people who were sniping.
“K-Kurokami-senpai….”
[…Yes?]
– It was a long silent moment
– Mei-chan finally spoke up…
– The young lady seems a bit flustered too, haha
No matter how low Kurokami-senpai’s rank is, I still believed my senpai had her own strategy.
Even actual pro gamers get flustered by the different game dynamics when playing at low ranks, causing them to make mistakes.
So far, I had followed all of my senpai’s instructions.
However, at this rate, it seemed impossible to even rank in the top 20.
“C-Can you please move according to my instructions from now on…?”
I-I said it.
What if she thinks I’m being rude?
Thinking back, I was also out of practice, and even if I asked her to follow my lead, there was no guarantee we’d improve our rank.
Wouldn’t it be better to cancel it even now?
“Uh, hey….”
[Yes. Understood.]
“…Eh?”
[I said understood! I don’t think my condition is great today, so I’ll leave it to Izumi-chan! But our goal is to win, got it?!]
“A-Ah! I’ll definitely aim for victory!”
– This young lady should be asking Mei-chan for help instead…
– The young lady’s charm is her confidence
[Hohoho! Commanding your subordinates is also a respectable skill!]
“Then let’s get started, senpai.”
[Alright!]
★
– What is this…?
– Can someone explain what I’m looking at?
“Senpai. Please use Knight Arc towards direction 105.”
[Got it!]
Responding to my command, my senpai immediately unleashed Arsène’s Knight Arc, “Void Slash.”
[There’s nothing I can’t cut…!]
At her words, Arsène swiftly drew her sword.
A brilliant silver blade extended forward, cutting through the air.
The space that was cut opened instantly, and from that gap, a pitch-black veil unfurled while simultaneously, numerous bullets and skills rained down.
But all those attacks were absorbed by the pitch-black veil, and the damage taken by me and my senpai was zero.
Knight Arc. The name of the special move used by characters in BN.
And Kurokami-senpai’s character, Arsène, used the Knight Arc ‘Void Slash’, which had the effect of blocking all incoming attacks with the pitch-black veil.
Since it also blocks ally attacks, using it incorrectly can lead to trolling, and due to Arsène’s characteristics, filling the arc gauge is notoriously tough.
However, if used correctly, it showcases the best potential among tank characters’ Knight Arcs, making Arsène a character that’s often banned in competitions.
“I’ll, I’ll charge toward WN direction immediately. Please throw smoke bombs ahead, and then you can approach and fight with your Q Skill.”
[Of course!]
As the smoke bombs were laid down, Kurokami-senpai dashed toward the enemies in the WN direction.
Even while keeping an eye on my senpai, the enemies seemed to be a pretty skilled party.
[Then let’s go with Full Burst!]
As Rina spoke, green flames enveloped her legs.
Rina’s Knight Arc, Full Burst.
Moving speed is increased by 70% for 9 seconds, and all skill cooldowns are reduced by 80%.
In addition, it’s a strengthened form of Knight Arc that allows three instant movements over a set distance.
“I’ll move behind. Can you pull them in with your E Skill?”
[Of course!]
Using teleportation twice in quick succession, I caught up to the enemy dealer from behind.
But as expected, proving they were quite skilled, they immediately turned around, aiming their guns at me.
However, Arsène’s E Skill, Moonscape, had already been activated.
Moonscape.
For 0.5 seconds, all enemies within the range are locked onto Arsène, and for the following 0.5 seconds, all attacks are sealed.
Some might think it’s a crowd control ability lasting only a second, but to be honest, in a fight between dealers, even a one-second gap is more than enough.
I immediately used Rina’s Q Skill, Weaken, which slows all enemy movement for 2 seconds and forces the rotation speed of their view, then unleashed bullets at the opponent’s head.
With the additional damage from Rina’s passive skill, “Weakness Exploit,” the opponent’s HP quickly turned crimson, and I executed him using my E Skill, Dash.
Then, using the cooldown from the Dash again, I rushed toward the enemy tank who was with my senpai and finished him off.
“The enemies from direction 105 will be here right away, so let’s hide and heal first.”
Well, I hadn’t taken much damage, so my HP was fine, but my senpai’s HP was already red from the previous battle.
[Haa. How much time is left?]
“Um. Excluding us, there are a total of three teams left.”
Since I had taken out all the ones looking like snipers, from now on, it was pure skill conflict.
But since we had used all our Knight Arcs in that last battle, we were at a disadvantage.
“How many healing kits are left?”
[Just one since I just used one.]
Since I had given all my healing kits to my senpai, that meant this was the last one.
Winning seemed a bit difficult after all.
As I thought that, I turned my gaze to the chatroom.
– What the heck is this? What am I looking at…?
– As soon as Mei-chan started giving orders, the rank skyrocketed, haha
– But seriously, that Void Slash usage was sick
– After catching the enemy from behind with Full Burst, immediately following it up with Moonscape and Weaken is insane
– The Arsène and Rina I saw while BN were all trolls, haha
– It seems like the young lady has nothing to offer for her senpai…
– Aren’t both extremely hard characters?
– If Arsène’s Knight Arc misfires, it’s trolling, and Rina’s just as fragile as glass
“Hehe….”
The chatroom was filled with praise for me.
Well, of course.
A team that had been ranking 40th, 38th, 40th, 39th, 39th, 38th, and 35th had jumped to at least 4th place in an instant.
– But no matter how good Mei-chan does, is it even possible to achieve this rank with the young lady…?
– For real, when I was watching the first five rounds, I thought I’d never make it to the top 20 today
“The reason senpai died back there was due to the character’s limitations.”
– ???
My comment filled the chatroom with question marks.
Thinking about it, senpai had always fought in 1:1 situations and died except for once, so that reaction was understandable.
But I wasn’t lying.
Senpai’s character, Arsène, is extremely unique even within BN.
From the start, it’s strange to use a sword to take down opponents in a game focused on shooting.
Moreover, her base health is among the lowest for tank positions, and she even has two penalties in her passive.
The first is that skills cannot be used while holding firearms.
The second is that after using a skill or basic attack, she can only move during the drawing motion.
It was the influence of this second penalty that led to my senpai dying in early 1:1 situations.
Arsène must perform a drawing motion after using a skill or basic attack.
Only after that drawing motion ends can she move to do anything else.
As a trade-off, her basic attack damage is stronger than other characters, but still, that early drawing gap is a massive issue.
How could she win without avoiding 1:1 fights with such a character?
…Thinking about it, letting her fight was the real problem, though!
“Anyway, when senpai fought back there, your movement and skill allocation didn’t make any mistakes, so this rank is possible…”
– If that’s what the players are like, then that’s how it is, right…
[Treatment is done, Izumi-chan! What should we do now?]
“Um. For now, let’s wait.”
We had run out of our Knight Arcs, and honestly, we were short on resources from taking down those snipers.
There was no need for us to initiate a resource battle.
Thud thud.
[Oh.]
“…They’re coming.”
The footsteps were coming from the SE direction. That means it was from the team that had been at 105.
My Knight Arc gauge was at 81%. Senpai was at 49%.
Would it be okay to fight?
Arsène isn’t a character whose performance drastically drops just because she doesn’t have her Knight Arc.
But for Rina, her Knight Arc accounts for about 90% of her performance.
“Let’s, let’s dodge for now.”
Rina’s Knight Arc gauge charges 1% every 2 seconds.
If I can hold out for 40 seconds somehow….
“Ah….”
Footsteps began to echo from all directions.
Well, the game time had already passed 20 minutes, and the field was incredibly small.
[It seems like trying to escape is a bad idea.]
“Yeah….”
Of all places, we happened to be in the center. Talk about a dumpster fire of luck.
KABOOM!
Explosion sound heralded the start of the battle.
“Senpai, for now, let’s head to the back….”
I wonder if we can actually win.
★
“W-Winning was impossible…”
[It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. Still, coming in 2nd is quite an accomplishment!]
Yeah. I think getting second place in my long-awaited comeback is really good.
Especially considering all the snipers and my senpai’s rank.
But.
– Hahahahahahahahaha
– No way, lol
– It’s true that we did well, but hahahahaha